Ride
by lonerism
Summary: A tragedy drove Caroline to escape her life, and start embarking a seemingly endless journey down the road. During her little adventure, she encountered a very charming foreign man. Unbeknownst to her, she was running from her nightmare, straight into the arms of the devil himself; the unbelievably good looking stranger—Klaus. (AU)


**Ride**

.

.

/

.

She promised herself she would never stay for too long. She would keep going until she had gone down every road. And only then maybe she would consider settling down. Or she could always find some other road that hadn't been travelled. Maybe she could get out of the country.

She wasn't sure if she was a free soul or if she was just running. Or maybe she was just bored. She honestly had no idea, as she barely recognized herself by the time.

That one afternoon, months ago, she just stormed into her family's home and went straight to the garage. She found her older brother's bike there, and she just knew. She just grabbed the keys and hopped off the bike.

She stopped by her dorm to pack some of her clothes, fitting them into a small bag pack. She had never done something like that before. Usually when she travels, she never travels light. _Never. _

When she was rushing out of the building, she bumped into her room mate, Anna. She thought she heard the girl asked where she was going but she just kept going, not even bothering to turn to face her.

She started the engine and then she took off. She didn't even bother to look back. She looked ahead, the wind blowing her hair. The sun looked like someone had painted it pink.

.

/

.

The place was dim, and it didn't smell very good. But it would just have to do.

She was tired. Her back kinda ached and her butt felt so sore. She was no biker and the last time she had ride was a couple of years ago when her brother taught her how to ride. It had been quite a while but luckily she still remembered everything. At first she only agreed to the riding lesson just to have a reason to spend some extra time with her brother, but now the skills had come in handy. She was sure her brother didn't have _this_—whatever she was doing now—in mind when he taught her to ride.

It was about six hours after she left New York that she came across this small town. Then when she saw the bar she released a sigh of relief because _finally _she could go for a stop. Her last was at a gas station just a few miles away from Columbus. She thought she had had just enough liquor in her system that she now couldn't even remember the name of the town. She was sure she had read it from the welcome sign she passed just about one hour ago. Or maybe she just had a poor memory.

She leaned on the booth, closing her eyes for a little bit. She knew she had to find a place to crash for the night, but she didn't feel like going into a crappy, rat-invested motel just yet. She opened her eyes and sighed. Soon she would have to face reality.

A part of her silently wished she hadn't done this. She would have been sleeping soundly in her dorm, hugging the teddy bear her late brother had given her when she was ten. She suddenly felt as if little needles were puncturing her chest as the thought of her brother crossed her mind.

_No, _she told herself. As tempting as it sounded, it wasn't her home anymore. She had lost her home and she had no reason to stay.

She was too busy with her own thoughts that she didn't realize that someone had been watching her from across the room. She was only aware of his presence as he started walking towards her direction. He was smiling at her kindly and though she was wearing a frown as she inspected him from head to toe, she could feel her heart beat getting frantic. He was gorgeous. He was too gorgeous that she initially thought that she actually had fallen asleep and he was just a dream. But then he slide to her booth, taking a seat opposite her.

She crossed her arms against her chest, regaining her posture and went on a full defensive mode. He might be very good looking, but that didn't mean he was necessarily a good man.

_**Don't believe anyone.**_

"I'm feeling rather bold tonight," he spoke, and she had to gulp when she noticed that he had an accent. A very sexy one.

"My name is Niklaus. But I would rather you call me Klaus," he continued, his smile widened and she swore she could spot dimples on his cheeks.

He went to take her hand, but Caroline only looked at his hand and kept her arms crossed, refusing to be touched by him.

_**Stay away from strangers.**_

"Well it's nice to meet you, Klaus," Caroline simply replied, sending him a polite small smile. "But I'm afraid I need to go and get some rest," she said, rising up. "Good night," she bid him, turning on her heels to leave the bar.

"Wait," Klaus called after her right before she reached the door, "I didn't even catch your name."

Caroline contemplated it for a while, as Klaus was looking at her expectantly.

"Alex," she then replied, spouting the first name she could think of.

_**People can hurt you.**_

.

/

.

Klaus watched as she made her way out, her hips swaying slightly as she walked. He could hear the clicking sound of her boots slowly vanishing, just moments after the door slammed shut.

There was something about her, and it drew him in. Maybe it was her feistiness? Maybe it was her confidence? After living for a thousand years and lived so many lives, he had seen a lot of things. He could name a genuine beauty the minute he laid eye on one. And he was proven right. She wasn't like any other. Most women would never leave his side the moment he came to them. Some of them even came to him. The few lucky ones would end up in his bed, dead, while some would be left in some dark alley, also dead.

But she was nothing like those women. She kept her distance from him. He could see her attraction of him, and he noticed how her heart beat wasn't exactly normal the moment he came to her. But she handled herself very well. She held her head high, he back straightened. Her arms were crossed against her chest and she didn't even let him plant a kiss on her hand. She even gave him a fake name. Yes, he knew. She was rejecting him.

'_Interesting,' _he thought.

He saw that as a challenge.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

_A/N: So what do you think? If people like it, I'm going to continue posting this. This is my first multi-chapter fic so I'm kinda nervous. Please, please REVIEW and tell me what you think. Those who do can get a hug from Joseph Morgan! ;)_


End file.
